WHAT MAKES A GOOD CUTTING BOARD?

There are a lot of gorgeous wooden cutting boards to choose from. How do you pick out a good one? What about some of those other cutting surfaces? Here are some general guidelines which will help you chose the right cutting board.

Type of wood: Type of wood is important. And there’s one hard and fast rule---it better be a hardwood. Otherwise the board can be cut too deeply. It’ll easily scratch and wind up disintegrating.

Hardwoods like walnut, cherry, oak, birch, and maple are used in cutting boards. Maple is the most popular choice, and it’s also my favorite.

Maple is a hard, dense, and fine-grained wood---great qualities for a cutting board. The only catch is that there are both hard and soft maple varieties. A few different names are often used to distinguish hard maple from soft, like "rock", "mountain", "northern", or simply, "hard maple".

Construction: Method of construction is every bit as important as type of wood. You basically have three choices: end-grain, edge-grain, and flat-grain. I’ll give you an analogy that helps explain the difference.

Take a 2 x 4 piece of lumber. If you stood it on end, it’d be at its strongest---and you’d be looking down at end-grain. Placed on its edge, a 2 x 4 is also very strong---capable of supporting something. But the same board, if placed in a flat position, is soft, and will easily bend.

The analogy extends to cutting boards. End-grain boards are the strongest, followed by edge-grain and flat-grain cutting boards.

End-grain: If you take a look down at a tree stump, you’re looking at end-grain. And think about why people chop wood on stumps---they’re durable. That’s exactly why end-grain is the way butcher blocks are put together,

Just one note of caution: with end-grain, go for something at least 2 ½ to 3 ½ inches thick. It’ll be bulky, but also much more resistant to cracking and warping than a thinner end-grain board.

Edge-grain: Edge-grain is a great alternative to end-grain. These boards are generally easier to move around the kitchen because they weigh less and don’t need to be a thick as end-grain boards to resist warping. And edge-grain provides a strong surface.

Edge-grain boards are usually glued up from full-length, narrow, constituent boards. But, most important, take a look at the very end of the cutting board. The grain pattern on the end of an edge-grain board will run in a more or less, vertical pattern, not horizontal.

Flat-grain: Flat-grain boards won’t hold up, regardless of wood type. You’ll find wide constituent boards with a grain pattern on the end that’s mostly horizontal. Sometimes edge grain is called face grain.

Other features: There are a few personal preference features. Feet on a cutting board, for example, allow air to circulate. While that makes the board non-reversible, the chances of warp is reduced because of increased air flow. Grooves in a board give liquids a place to go, other than onto a counter. They’re great for carving meat.

The NSF Mark: As added protection your cutting board should bear the mark of NSF. This assures you that the very highest standards of construction and materials are being used. The NSF mark is required for commercial cutting surfaces.

Other materials: There are many other types of cutting boards on the market and it sometimes can be confusing which is best. Here are some thoughts on these cutting surfaces.

Plastic:  Plastic cutting boards are inexpensive and readily available. These boards sometime carry the NSF mark and others do not. NSF testing of plastic cutting boards has to date only concerned itself with the toxicity of the actual plastic. No testing has been done on plastic regarding shear, heat and microbiology. While many consider these boards safe there are studies that suggest that used plastic cutting surfaces can harbor, and in some cases grow, dangerous bacteria. Cross contamination is a very real possibility on any cutting surface but may be more concerning on plastic. The reasoning behind this is that as an incision is made by a knife the cross section of the slice down into the cutting board is not the smooth "v" shape one might imagine. The cross section instead looks very much like an upside down pine tree. These sharp corners allow a place where dangerous agents can hide, often held there by water tension. While the board may be easily washed, unless this water tension is broken the dangerous agents may reside in the board for long periods of time. They can then re-emerge later to contaminate other foods.

Additionally: Plastic cutting boards are made of petroleum, a nonrenewable resource. With world concerns of energy consumption growing this should be considered when purchacing a cutting board. 

Bamboo: Recently there has been much talk about Bamboo being the latest and greatest cutting surface. While it can be generally said that bamboo is renewable it can also be said that due to the number of laminations in the board the life span of the board could be a serious question. This relatively short life span is not environmentally prudent because it requires the surface be replaced regularly. The dynamic of glue joint failure is partly due to the swell/shrink cycle. During use and cleaning the board takes on moisture and looses it as it dries. This constant hydration and dehydration causes the board to swell and shrink respectively. This is a common cause of glue joint failure and considering the number of laminations used in creating a bamboo cutting board delamination is a very real possiblity.. It is as of yet unproven that these boards are anything but a fad. Additionally, at this writing no bamboo board bears the NSF label which may call into question the safety of these boards.

Glass: Glass is a very cleanable surface which would imply it would make an excellent cutting surface. Unfortunately the danger with glass is not in the food safety area. The danger with glass resides in the relationship of a sharp knife being used on a very hard slick surface. The chances of a knife skipping or skidding across the surface creates a danger unto itself. If one choses to purchase a glass cutting board this very real issue should be kept in mind at all times. Cuts to the fingers and hand from knife skip do happen more frequently on glass cutting boards. Beyond the immeadiate threat of physical injury from the knife there is also a concern about small flecks of glass chipping off this type of surface and being transfered into the food being processed.

Granite: Granite performs much like glass and the all the concerns noted above can be said about granite cutting surfaces. Additionally, granite is a pourous material which will stain.